Italy ‘Must Have A Plan B’ To Exit The Euro, Says Economist And Former Industry Minister

The prominent Italian economist and former government minister, Paolo Savona, has said that Italy “must have a plan B” to exit the euro. He added that the Greek bailout deal was “badly constructed” and warned packages like it, designed to exert economic control over one state by another are short-lived.

The Italian magazine, Vita, reports Savona, who served as Minister of Industry, Trade and Handicraft for the Ciampi Government in the early ’90s, said:

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“If Italy hasn’t already done so, it must have a plan B ready in the event of an end to the euro or a need to exit from it… the [Greek] agreements are badly constructed and signed by countries with intentions to dominate, they won’t have a long life. If Italy were caught unprepared in that event, it would be a tragedy”.

Referring back to the history of the Nazi economist and Third Reich economics minister Dr Walther Funk, Savona said Germany has now realised one of the cornerstones of his economic plan by confirming itself the “country of order in Europe” through the “excellent opportunity” provided by the Greek crisis.

Funk was the man responsible for devising the planned post-war for a post-war ‘Europäische Wirtschafts Gemeinschaft’, or European Economic Community. Other parts of Funk’s plan for a European Economic Community led by Germany included a common European currency, Harmonisation of European Rates of Exchange, a European Agricultural Economic Order and a Common Labour Policy.

Savona warned also that Italy could face problems because of its national debt, an issue which must be settled soon. His suggestion was to restructure it using a similar mechanism to that which Greece has been ordered to use to pay off its debts.

Adapting the idea of a fund made up of state assets, Savona proposed not selling them off to pay down debt or finance current expenditure, but rather to use them as collateral in the form of a guarantee plan. In this way he believes Italy could secure better repayment terms.

Savona concluded: “The high level of Italian debt is the key reason for which we may be blackmailed by Europe into ‘making reforms’ and to ensure that those in power within Italy stay there and run the government – the people that have encouraged and allowed this situation of international servility.”